When President Obama stood with the parents of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl at the White House Saturday and announced he was coming home thanks to a prison swap with the Taliban, he did it without notifying Congress 30 days ahead of time as required by law.
Yesterday at the White House press daily briefing, Press Secretary Jay Carney justified the swift action and argued the executive branch must have flexibility when it comes to making time sensitive decisions.
"This [release/swap] should not have been a surprise to Congress," Carney said. "The executive branch must have the ability to act swiftly."
Those words didn't make Congress anymore comfortable or less outraged about being left out of the process, prompting calls for hearings and demands for details about how the exchange Bergdahl went down. According to Chad Pergrum, the Senate will be fully briefed about the prisoner exchange tomorrow evening.
Full Senate gets briefing on #Bergdahl and prisoner transfer Wednesday at 5 pm et.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 3, 2014
McConnell says he was notified about the #Bergdahl prisoner swap on Saturday.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 3, 2014
Last year, the White House said the prisoner swap would not take place without informing Congress well ahead of time. The opposite happened over the weekend.